Palatine Wins American Legion Opener

August 17, 1989

Palatine`s American Legion baseball team made short work of Steubenville, Ohio, in its opener in the Midwest regional Wednesday in Danville, winning 10-4.

Palatine jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one inning thanks to run-scoring hits by Bob Kuechelberg and John Marzec. It expanded that advantage to 7-0 with a four-run second inning. Jason Jetel and Alex Sanmiguelgot RBIs in that inning; the other two runs were unearned. Winning pitcher John Bimmerle singled in two more runs in the fifth.

``I think we put a lot of pressure on them,`` said Palatine coach Frank Mariani Jr., whose team stole eight bases in 10 attempts. ``We just got a little infield hit or something and we ended up scoring a couple runs at a time.``

Bimmerle gave up four hits, struck out seven and walked six in going 6 1/ 3 innings. Jeff Holt finished up for the save.

Palatine plays Janesville, Wis., at 5:05 p.m. Thursday in its second tourney game. Janesville beat Levittown, Pa., 7-1 in its first game as Jeff Thelen, a Bradley recruit, went all nine innings, striking out 10.